Book Reviews

I highly commend Al Arnold on his historical
memoir. He writes about one of the most famous
African American Confederate participants of the
Civil War, his very own ancestor, Turner Hall,
Jr. Arnold uses his own recollections of stories
passed down through the generations along with
photos to instill in today’s Southerners,
especially those of African American descent,
that they should be proud of their Confederate
heritage, because their ancestors earned it. He
stresses that through Christ, African Americans
can rise above the thoughts of past injustices
done to them and become great Christian men of
honor and success. However, he stresses, that
they must rethink who they are and learn to work
together, not fight each other, to better their
lives.

By telling Mr. Hall’s story with the backdrop of
the Civil War, Mr. Arnold demonstrates the
greatness already embedded in the African
American ancestry, even when their stories have
went mostly untold; left forgotten, which is a
grave travesty.

You cannot tell the history of the Civil War
without African Americans. It is impossible to
tell one without the other. This is not solely
because of slavery. In the beginning, the
Northerners believed the “insurrection” would
end within six months. They never imagined the
power of African American Confederates to keep
the war going year after year. It is a testament
to the tenacity as much as the sheer
determination of Confederate blacks to fight for
and with
their Caucasian counterparts and practically
family. These children grew up together. When
the white soldiers went off to fight, they took
their childhood friends along to look after
their needs as well as workloads. Most other
slaves kept the homelands profiting in order to
enable the war to continue for as long as it
did. They did not rebel en mass like the
Northerners believed they would.

I loved that Mr. Arnold was able to finally, as
a historian, remind laymen of this fact. As a
historian, myself, I remember the saying,
“History was always written by the victor”. It
wasn’t until the ladder part of the twentieth
century that any other story was given any merit
much less any care. However, Mr. Arnold reminds
us that this false sense of history was far from
the truth. He reminds us that real history is so
much richer and more complex than we have ever
been lead to believe. And, the untold stories
need to be told in order for us to keep the
momentum going, to keep each one of our
heritages alive and thriving. There is so much
more to this book than meets the eye. And, the
proof can be found in the life of Mr. Turner
Hall, Jr.

Thank you Publish Green and NetGalley for giving
me a free copy of this book to read and give an
honest review.

Excellent…excellent…excellent! This
story needed to be told. Finally,
someone has the courage to challenge the
distorted meaning of “confederate”. Far
too long the bigots and hate groups have
hi-jacked the meaning of “confederate”
and the flag without any recourse. Now
an African American and true descendant
of an actual slave participant in the
Confederate Army during the Civil War
has emerged to tell the story of his
great-great grandfather. Regardless of
how minuscule some may view his role, it
was a role that was vital and had to be
done by someone. Having served in the
military myself during the first Gulf
War, I clearly understand that all roles
of the military are important, and even
more so during war time. What an amazing
story! Unlike myself and others who have
allowed hate groups to hi-jack the
meaning of “confederate” due to our
ignorance or fear of political, social
or cultural backlash…Mr. Arnold has
boldly stood up for a heritage that he
and his family are so rightfully due.
Like Mr. Arnold, I too am African
American and proud to be from the
wonderful state of Mississippi. I must
admit…I certainly did not agree with him
on the representation of the confederate
flag but through the reading of this
book (twice), I am now challenging my
own perception of what I thought to be
true. I believe every citizen of the
United States should read this book
(young and old alike) because it’s time
that we as citizens challenge many of
the distorted perceptions plaguing our
great nation.